Phoenix Flying
by JediC8H10N4O2
Summary: Phoenix is now a third year, and is forced to watch as her brother takes part in a dangerous tournament against his will. Someone is out to get him, and she doesn't know who. The instinct that awoke last year to protect her brother has only become stronger. Meanwhile, the Unspeakables have the history of the players, but still don't know what the origin point is.
1. Scars, Nightmares, and Golden Girl

Disclaimer: For some reason, I still have not managed to spontaneously receive the rights to Harry Potter, so I'm borrowing the characters.

Book three begins. Skazzy is in her third year now, and she's more determined then ever to protect her brother.

* * *

"Alright, so we finally know the major players, and most of their history. Sirius Black, falsely imprisoned, the two Potters, the younger two Weasleys, the muggleborn Hermione Granger, and Amity Fear. Now, we just need to figure out what's changed." The elder Unspeakable said, staring at the board they had completed after two years.

"My money is that it is related to Phoenix. She started the whole thing off, getting a wand," the younger Unspeakable pointed out, putting a red tag next to that event on their timeline of history.

"And yet, it might not be that easy. Stop her from getting the wand? I don't think that's going to help. That was small, and whose to say that she wasn't affected by something before that was too small to pick up? Maybe she met someone who put her on the path to that wand. We need to examine the timeline carefully," the elder cautioned.

"And then there's the nameless being," the younger one continued. "What do we do about that?"

"I have no clue. We're in uncharted territories right now. Time is fluctuating more than it should, even given that one of the five can change Time. I've never heard of this happening," the elder said, frowning. "We need to solve this soon."

"We need to know who the being is," the younger one added.

It was the start of a busy year.

* * *

A girl with golden hair watched from a tree, looking into the window of the Dursley's house. Time was weird, and she didn't understand, but she knew that some things needed to happen.

She watched Skazzy Potter in a rare vulnerable moment, wondering if maybe… Was it worth it to leave Skazzy to discover things on her own? To not do what she was going to do? She felt as if someone would probably tell her that what she was about to do was unethical, or immoral, or something.

Sadly, she lacked a moral compass, and staring at this girl did absolutely nothing.

"It's for her own good," The girl said, watching still. "She needs to protect him, and there is always a cost."

A second girl identical to the first appeared.

"Is the cost worth it though?" she asked, watching.

"Maybe not, but cost to her means nothing in exchange for her brother's safety."

"She looks young,"

"We're old."

"I know but... I just wonder if we're doing the right thing."

"Probably not, but we'd have done it anyways. There's always a cost," the first girl sighing. The two girls remained quiet, waiting and watching what was going on the Potter's room.

"Let's be honest. We never had a chance," the first girl said.

"No, I suppose we didn't," the second girl agreed. "Anyway, I'm off."

"To when?"

"To fourth year."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," the first girl said, still watching the Potter's room.

"You say that as if it would limit me in some way," the second girl said dryly before disappearing.

The first girl just shook her head. "It's not like you would have listened if it did."

* * *

Skazzy was watching her brother in concern. She had woken up to go to the bathroom, only to discover that Harry seemed to be in the throes of a nightmare. She had tried to wake him up, but was punched for her trouble. She was going to have a nice black eye.

Today was the last day at the Dursley's. Sirius was going to come and pick them up, and they would live in his house in London. A house he complained about, but a house without Dursleys. Sounded good to her.

It was just bothering her that Harry had started to have nightmares. This wasn't the first time Skazzy had caught him having problems sleeping. He almost never remembered what the dream was about, but Skazzy had noticed that every time his scar would act inflamed. She was pretty sure that was a bad sign. All she could do though was watch him, hoping he would get some measure of peaceful sleep.

For the first time, Harry woke up in the middle of his fit. Skazzy blinked.

"You okay?" she asked, moving to sit on the bed with her brother. Harry shook his head, panting. "What's wrong?"

"Scar hurts," he grunted, holding his head in his hands.

"It is looking a bit inflamed," Skazzy said, peeling Harry's hands away from his forehead to check. "How would it get inflamed?"

"Don't know. Weirdest dream. I was some old guy, and I ran into Voldemort and Pettigrew and died. They were talking about something, a Bertha Jorkans? And the quidditch world cup?" Harry said, screwing up his eyes as the details slipped through his memory.

Skazzy froze at the mention of Voldemort and Pettigrew. "You aren't psychic, right?"

"Why would I dream this?" Harry asked, frustrated. "I only knew the voices of two people. It didn't look like someplace I had been before, or even a mash up of places I've seen. It just doesn't make sense!"

"I hear you. I hear you, but I have no idea what could be going on? And your scar hurting...that doesn't sound good. Didn't you say the last time it hurt, you were near Voldemort? I mean, I can check and see if Voldemort has replaced any of our relatives, but I'm pretty sure we would have had a different indication if that had happened," Skazzy offered. Harry managed a smile.

"Don't you think you've terrorized them enough?" he asked.

Skazzy had become less willing to do as their aunt and uncle wished. The two of them spent most of their time in the park, because Harry was worried that something bad was going to happen.

It had all started when Uncle Vernon had presented them with a list of chores to do. Skazzy took one look, and said 'Nope. Not unless Dudley does some.' Uncle Vernon had turned purple and dragged her off to yell, but there was no yelling and he came back pale, telling the two Potters to stay out as much as possible. Harry had tried to get Skazzy to tell him what she had done, but she just smiled.

It was a smile that Harry was beginning to not recognize. It was a cold smile. When she was younger, she'd give a half smile that didn't reach her eyes, but this, this was different. Skazzy was disdainful of their relatives, and not afraid to show it. Sooner or later this was going to lead to a giant explosion.

And Harry was beginning to believe that his sister would be the victor.

"No. I've got ten years to make up for," Skazzy said, waving her hand to excuse everything she had done.

"Dumbledore..."

"Put us here and is keeping us here, and does not control me," Skazzy said, voice hard. "I'm being nice for his sake though. I could be so much worse."

Harry just stared at his sister. "I think Hufflepuff is bad for you. You've certainly gotten much more, uh, vicious."

"I'll blame Hogwarts in general," Skazzy dismissed Harry's concern. Didn't stop Harry from frowning. "Anyway, today we escape! Freedom!"

"When did Sirius say he'd come and get us?" Harry asked, forgetting the time.

"Not soon enough, maybe about two? Ten to one they're throwing you a party," Skazzy teased. It was July thirty-first, Harry's fourteenth birthday and everyone had been quiet about what they would be doing that day. Harry groaned.

"Maybe they'll make it a double party for you and me. We did miss your birthday last year," Harry pointed out. Skazzy, born Phoenix Potter, had her thirteenth birthday on May first, and had been a bit too busy with Hippogriff trials and paperwork to actually remember what day it was.

"There was more important things going on," Skazzy said, remembering their whole ordeal at the end of the year. The Dementors had been reassigned to Azkaban, and had more restrictions placed on them as well as stricter communication lines with the Ministry after a Ministry employee by the name Walden Macnair had lost his soul.

"If it is a double party..." Harry started.

"I know, I know. Be polite. Especially to ex-professor," Skazzy rolled her eye.

She had not gotten off to a good start on a relationship with her godfather, their last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Despite the fact that Remus Lupin had tried to cultivate a relationship with her, she turned him down, ending with attacking him with a chair leg. He had been owling her constantly, trying to make up with her. She had been tempted to return the letters unopened, but Harry was forcing her to communicate.

Then he got mad when all she wrote was 'Hello, Alive, Goodbye'. Skazzy knew that Harry was writing more about her to the two adults who had once known their parents, but Skazzy wasn't in the mood to forgive. She wasn't the forgiving type. Especially not when said person had ample opportunity to visit.

"Well, at least this means we can escape the diet we don't need," Skazzy said, scowling. Their cousin had apparently grown so fat that they no longer had a uniform in his size. The left Aunt Petunia no choice but to inflict a diet on Dudley, and the whole family.

"Floor board," Harry reminded her. As soon as Aunt Petunia announced the new regime, Harry had sent out letters begging for real food. And his friends had come through as usual. It was nice, although the two avoided eating anything that Hagrid sent them. They had both learned the hard way that Hagrid's cooking was not the best.

"Anyways, better head down for food, least Aunt Petunia starts to suspect something," Harry said. Skazzy followed, scowling. On the bright side, no one was forcing her to eat too much. On the other, her only other option was sweets.

"Sirius can't come fast enough," she whispered to herself.

* * *

"I don't know what I did wrong!" Remus Lupin paced in the drawing room of Sirius' childhood house. "I was nice, approachable, I only gave her detention once, and that was more an excuse for her to talk to me, which she didn't do. Why would she trust a strange dog over a teacher?"

"Has it occurred to you Skazzy..." Sirius started.

"Can you use her real name?" Remus asked.

"Point one: you aren't trying to get to know her. Point two: she mistrusts adults. She was brewing and taking potions to deal with whatever it is that happened to her. Most kids would go to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey would figure out how to help them. She _brewed_ her own potions. Does this sound to you like someone who is going to accept things without questioning them?" Sirius continued. "Sooner or later though, we need to go back to you being the logical one, and me being me."

"She said she'd never trust me," Remus sighed, sitting down. Sirius winced at that.

"I think the two of you need to sit down and have a talk. You don't know what you did, and she...doesn't really understand people," Sirius suggested. "Why not try to introduce yourself again?"

Remus stared at Sirius. "I'm pretty sure she's not the one to give second chances."

"Explain to her that you are a werewolf, and thought it best to stay away..."

"She knows I'm a werewolf. She attacked me with a chair leg."

"Point. On the bright side, at least she wasn't attacking because she hates werewolves," Sirius tried to raise Remus' spirits.

After about week, a week where Sirius Black was getting treatment to recover from Azkaban, Remus finally mustered his Gryffindor courage to apologize. Their friendship is not what it once was, but the two of them were trying.

"Why did she trust a dog over me?"

"You'll have to ask her, and be prepared for answers you might not want to hear," Sirius said.

"I miss the happy little Phoenix," Remus said.

"Well, this is the Skazzy we got. She's developed a personality, and even if you don't like it, it's there. Probably not going to change. Now, what I would like to fix is her belief that her brother is more important than she is. She asked if I intended to harm Harry, and didn't ask about herself at all. And her friend, Amity is it? Had to translate the obvious 'and I'll protect you as well'," Sirius said, frowning.

Remus sighed. "She said something to the same effect to me. I was hoping she was just angry and not thinking straight."

"We obviously need to fix whatever damage Lily's sister and her family have done. Well, fix it as much as we can given what we have. Maybe at some point, she'll realize that we will listen, that she can trust us," Sirius said hopefully.

"I probably shouldn't go to get them with you," Remus sighed, looking at his latest letter from Phoenix. It was identical to all the other ones she had sent. Nothing to indicate anything other than the fact she is alive.

"No, you can get the party ready though. I, well, we, have a lot of lost time to make up for, so this has to be great. I'm glad Mrs. Weasley offered to host it at her house so we didn't have to risk compromising the house," Sirius said, looking around the place in disgust. His childhood home did not invoke any good childhood memories.

Remus sighed, and disapparated to the Burrow to help make sure that the double party preparations were going well. Not that Mrs. Weasley would let him try and help in the kitchen. He could at least attempt to help decorate.

Sirius watched as his old friend disappeared. The years had not been kind to him, and he seemed to have forgotten everything he and James had taught him about caring for himself. Ironically, Remus and Skazzy were very close to each other personality-wise. Both took themselves far too seriously, were prone to attempting to solve problems themselves, and good at not letting people in.

The main, and most telling difference, was that Remus wanted the world to accept him, and Skazzy couldn't care less about how the world viewed her, as long as her brother was protected. She seemed like she would be personally fine if the world decided it wanted nothing to do with her. She had already decided that she wanted as little to do with the world as possible.

Anyway, he was going over to pick the two Potters up, set them up in the awful house, and then take a surprise visit to the Weasleys.

* * *

"Why are we out here again?" Harry asked his sister as they sat on the park bench enjoying the weather.

"Because I hate that house?" Skazzy answered, looking up at the sky. They were being given a wide berth as most of the people at the park were nervous when looking at Skazzy's face. In her first year of Hogwarts, she had nearly died when she attacked a basilisk head on. She had survived, but she had a scar down the left side of her face, as well as on her chest, where the basilisk had managed to bite her. Her left eye was healed somewhat. She could no longer see using it, but it resembled an eye, albeit one that was a milky blue. Skazzy didn't care about what she looked like though.

"Yeah, but Sirius is coming," Harry said, impatiently.

"So we need to go back?" Skazzy asked, looking at Harry. Harry sighed.

"Yes, he'll be appearing in our room eventually so we can move everything out," Harry reminded Skazzy. She scowled before getting off the bench.

"This was still a good way to kill time," she muttered. The two of them wandered back to the house that they had been raised in and retreated to their room. When they got there, Harry started pulling everything out from under the loose floorboard.

"Pack," he told his sister when she flopped on her bed.

"Didn't unpack," she said, watching as he put things into his trunk. "Seemed like too much work."

"Lazy," Harry laughed.

"Lazy would be our cousin down there. All he's doing is moaning and trying to get Aunt Petunia to let him off the diet. I don't think he's left the kitchen once," Skazzy said, staring at the ceiling. "Or is it his bedroom now? I can't remember."

"Aunt Petunia would probably throw a fit if he lived in the kitchen. He might mess up her neat and orderly place," Harry pointed out. Further talking was stopped by a loud noise.

Sirius Black appeared in their bedroom, looking much better than the last time they had seen him. He looked around the room. "You two ready?"

"Yeah," the two Potters echoed. Sirius nodded.

"I can only take one of you and a trunk at a time," Sirius began before Skazzy interrupted.

"I'll tell the other people living here we're leaving," and she left through the door before anyone could say anything. Sirius and Harry stared after her.

"Somehow, that seems like a horrible idea," Sirius commented to Harry, grabbing Harry's trunk and placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry couldn't say anything before he felt like he was being squeezed and pulled and squashed. When he could next see, he found himself in the foyer of an old building. "Welcome to Grimauld place. Go upstairs to pick a bedroom on the second floor. I'll give the two of you the tour when you're moved in."

With that Sirius went back to pick up Skazzy and her stuff. Harry took another look around, and took his trunk upstairs. Checking the bedrooms, he found a nice big one that happened to be next to another bedroom. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure whether Skazzy would be willing to go for different rooms, or even if he wanted to.

After all, he had never had his own room. He started putting clothes in the closet and putting books on the bedside table. A knock on the door disturbed him sometime later, and Skazzy was in the doorway.

"Share?" she asked, looking at something over his shoulder and not meeting his eyes. Harry smiled. Yes, he had never had his own room, but chances were even if the two of them were in different rooms, Skazzy would end up sleeping in this room most nights.

"We'll get Sirius to add another bed," Harry said, turning back to what he was doing. He heard a thump as Skazzy slammed her trunk against the wall.

"Oops," she said, a tad guilty. Before Harry could see what exactly she had done, Sirius was in the room.

"Both staying in here?" he asked, managing to hide his surprise that two siblings actually wanted to sleep in the same room. When they both nodded, he shrugged and added another bed. Before Skazzy could fall onto it and take a nap, Sirius was rubbing his hands together. "Alright, now, tour of the house!"

With that, he took them floor by floor, telling them which rooms they would probably want to steer clear of, or funny stories involving the rooms.

"And lastly, we have a library. Some of these books are really dark, but I've moved them to the shelves at the end of the room," Sirius said, pointing to a room with books. "Any questions?"

"I had a question about the tapestry room," Harry said, and the two began walking downstairs. "Skaz?"

"I'll be in the library," she called back, entering the room. It wasn't as big as the Hogwarts library, but it did have a few interesting books. _How to Hex Your Enemy and Never Get Caught_ seemed like it could be a very useful text. About halfway through the forward, she realized she wasn't alone. She looked up.

There, in front of her, was the girl with the golden hair. Skazzy closed the book, eyeing her warily.

"What are you doing here? This place is Fidelius'd," she asked, scowling at the girl. The girl waved her hand at the question.

"I know the secret. I know lots of things. Like Harry's going to be in danger this year."

"Start talking," Skazzy said, all her attention riveted on the girl.

"But where's the fun in that?" the girl's eye sparked with cold amusement.

"Now," Skazzy said, her voice steel. The girl gave Skazzy a smile that didn't touch her eye.

"A tournament, with death a possibility comes to Hogwarts," she said, before disappearing to behind Skazzy. "And you know what? Harry is forcibly entered."

"How do I stop it?" Skazzy turned, fighting with her urge to hit the girl who had annoyed her at the end of last year and the urge to listen so she could protect her brother.

"You don't."

"Then why tell me?" Skazzy asked, staring at the girl suspiciously. "Why tell me if I can't change it?"

"It's complicated. Genesis says that the only way for everything to work is for some events to happen as they are suppose to. Like letting Peter escape. That was necessary. There are other things, things I don't know yet, but will eventually."

"Who's Genesis?"

"Genesis will meet you at Hogwarts to begin your training," the girl said, smiling at the look of frustration that passed through Skazzy's eye.

"What do you guys want from me?" Skazzy demanded.

"Protect Harry."

"Always. At all costs."

"Exactly. Your own life?" the girl asked.

"Inconsequential," Skazzy answered, wondering why the girl was bothering to ask stupid questions.

"Right. You need to be extra vigilant. Watch the Cup, and discover the traitor. Learn what ever you need, forget about the fake boundaries that wizards created. Use this room to the fullest extent you can. Magic is a tool to be used, Phoenix Lily Potter. Use it. Master it. Fight."

With that, the girl was gone, leaving Skazzy staring at an empty place, with far more questions than she had started the day with.

"What cup?" she asked the empty air, frustrated.

"Hey Skaz, we're going to visit the Weasleys," Harry called up the stairs. Skazzy left the room, frequently looking behind her to see if the girl appeared.

It looked like she was going to be stuck with yet another mystery. And her brother was in danger yet again.

Most of the time, Skazzy hated the wizarding world. This girl wasn't helping.


	2. Birthdays and Floos

Disclaim: Don't own.

AN: Skazzy's world is tilted, and it doesn't look like it's going to straighten soon.

* * *

Skazzy came downstairs from the library, scowling. Her brother was going to be in danger, there was a weird girl who bypassed security, and her brother was going to be in danger. Did the world have it out for him?

Harry and Sirius were waiting downstairs in front of the fireplace. This did not help Skazzy get out of the black mood the girl had put her in.

"We're flooing?" she asked, staring at Sirius. He nodded, confused.

"What's so bad about flooing?" he asked.

"I got lost last time," Harry said, giving his sister a concerned look. "Won't happen again."

"Well, ladies first?" Sirius said, indicating the fire. Skazzy sighed, and took a pinch of floo powder.

"I hate the floo," Skazzy muttered before bracing herself for the unpleasantness. "The Burrow."

Once again, she was spinning around, watching as things rushed past her. Her motion sickness got worse as she only had vision in one eye. Instead of gracefully stepping out of the fireplace or even the stumbling she had done before her first year, she ended up on the floor, breathing heavy. Amity helped her up while Harry and then Sirius came through.

"I am never, ever using the floo again. It was not designed for people like me," she informed everyone, still trying to get her bearing.

"Didn't think of that, sorry," Sirius said, wincing a bit.

"Anyway, come on," Ron said, pulling Harry towards the kitchen. "Happy birthday mate!"

Everyone followed the two into the kitchen, but Skazzy shook Amity off.

"I'll be in soon, I just need to..." she trailed off as she sat on the floor. Amity watched her with concern, but reluctantly went to the kitchen.

Skazzy held her head, feeling the beginnings of a headache. This was going to be a bad. She was angry, had a headache, and was confused. Her world was out of alignment, and she needed to fix it before she could even think of being social. Well, being social according to most people's standards. She slowly got off the floor and entered the kitchen. She made her way through the chaos to her brother, and quietly told him she would be outside. One look at her, and Harry nodded, knowing the dangers of an annoyed Skazzy around people she had problems connecting with. She headed out to the pond, not noticing the gazes that followed her.

* * *

Remus watched as Phoenix left the kitchen and headed out to the pond. Maybe now would be a good time for that conversation Sirius said they would need to have. They would be away from people overhearing, and secluded. He began to follow her, only to be stopped by Amity.

"What ever you're thinking professor, you don't want to go talk with her right now. Trust me. She'll come back when she's ready for people," Amity said, standing in front of the door.

"I'm not your professor anymore, you can call me Remus," Remus said, trying to move around her. "I just want to talk to her alone."

"She already doesn't trust you. Right now, she's in one of her darker moods. If you try to talk to her right now, you might set her off and alienate her further," Amity said, stubbornly standing in his way. "I know Nixie, Harry knows Nixie, and Nixie knows herself. Right now she's walking on an edge for some reason. It's best to not try and talk with her."

Remus looked down at the young Hufflepuff who knew his goddaughter better than him, and sighed. He turned back to Sirius, watching as Amity quietly left the house. _One day_ , he thought, _one day I'll prove to her that she can trust me, that I_ care.

* * *

Amity sat next to her friend of the last two years. Nixie had her eyes closed, lying on the grass facing the sky. In two years, Nixie had gotten a little better at interacting with people, but she still preferred isolation. Amity lay down next to her and watched the clouds.

The two of them made quite the pair. Amity, who their year had all agreed was the nicest person in their year, and Nixie, who hands down won the place of least liked without even trying. Amity knew that her friendship with Nixie confused the other members of her house, about as much as Nixie's placement in Hufflepuff did. How could two completely different people be friends?

Not easily. Amity had often had to make the effort to stay friends. It got tiring, and there were times she wanted to give up, but she'd get a small sign from Nixie that she cared. To most people it wouldn't be noticeable, but to someone who lived with Nixie and spent a lot of her time with her, it would be loud. And, even if her friendship with Nixie had lead to her being caught up in crazy adventures her mother would rather she didn't have, it was worth it.

If she hadn't become friends with Nixie, she wouldn't have become friends with Hermione. Or possibly Ginny her first year. After all, as a first year who wasn't constantly sitting at the Gryffindor table she probably wouldn't have noticed what Ginny was going through. Granted, she might be closer to the other Hufflepuffs in their year, but after two years with Nixie and her brother and their adventures, she sometimes found the other girls boring. Nice, but boring.

She lost track of the time while she was staring at the clouds, but a sigh from Nixie brought her back to the ground.

"Better?" Amity asked, still looking at the sky. From the corner of her eye she saw Nixie nod. "Want to go back?"

"Not really. Back means talking to the ex-professor. I promised Harry I'd be nice, but I'm not sure how long I'd be able to manage it right now," Nixie said, staring at the sky.

"At some point you'll have to," Amity pointed out, and Nixie scowled.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it. And today has been… weird," Nixie said, relaxing a bit.

"Can I give you your gift, since someone seemed to have forgotten to mention her birthday for the past two years?" Amity asked.

"We _were_ busy," Nixie defended herself, but she nodded. Amity smiled and ran up to the kitchen to get the gift.

"Here, Mom said they'd be useful," she said, handing the package over. Nixie unwrapped the present, hesitantly. She pulled out two books.

" _Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms_ , and _The Decline of Pagan Magic?_ I get the first one, but not the second," Nixie said, looking at the book in surprise. Amity shrugged.

"Mom took Ancient Runes and said that it should be a required text," she explained. Nixie shrugged, putting both the books down.

"How much longer?" she asked.

"How much longer can you stay out here, or until the party is over? I think Mrs. Weasley is planning on feeding us," Amity said, thinking.

"Of course she is," Nixie groaned. Amity poked her.

"Be nice, she doesn't have to," Amity pointed out.

"I meant it in a nice way, you know, she never lets anyone leave without eating," Nixie defended herself lazily.

"Come on, time for food," Amity said, jumping up and waiting for Nixie to get up and grab her books. "You might want to keep the second book out of Hermione's sight for a little while. I don't think she's read it..."

Nixie smiled, a tired smile that barely showed in her eye. "Don't want her to steal it, or ask me a bunch of questions about it."

"Exactly."

* * *

Dinner at the Weasleys was chaotic, as anyone who had ever met the twins would have realized. Skazzy, in an attempt to avoid Lupin, had managed to place herself next to Percy. Percy then proceeded to tell her about all of the fascinating things he was doing at the Ministry. Harry had simply laughed when she turned to him for help. Amity found it funny as well. But when Percy began talking about standardizing cauldron thickness, Skazzy managed rendered everyone at the table quiet.

"When you say standardizing cauldron thickness, do you mean in general across all types, or for particular ones? Does a pewter cauldron have to be the same thickness as a copper one? Wouldn't it make sense to standardize based on the material instead of a general standard that may be overkill?"

Everyone stared at her, surprised that she spoke _and_ that she had actually asked Percy a legitimate question about his work.

"I… hadn't thought about that. So far everything about the subject I've been given has just mentioned standardizing cauldrons, not specifying anything about materials..." Percy trailed off, thinking. Everyone continued to stare at her.

"What?" Skazzy asked defensively, crossing her arms.

"You...talked. To Percy. Seriously," one of the twins said.

"Are you sick?" the other one asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. Hey!" Skazzy fought off the twins as they tried to see if she was sick. "I'm fine!"

"She might be contagious!" One of the twins said to the other, and the two of them ran to the other end of the table, yelling that they didn't want to be infected with prefectitis.

"...That's not a disease, right?" Skazzy asked, as the twins cowered in mock terror behind her brother.

"No, I just don't think anyone expected you to be interested in Percy's work," Mrs. Weasley said, glaring at the twins.

"Cauldrons I get. Besides, it's a serious problem when your working with acidic ingredients like bulbadox juice and syrup of hellebore. If you aren't careful, they'll melt the cauldron," Skazzy said, slinking down in her seat. "Cauldrons also don't stare."

That brought everyone out of their stupor, and talk around the table resumed, although the twins stayed far away from Skazzy for the rest of the night. Seeing as people who were near them kept inexplicably turning into canaries, she was okay with that.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to have a problem after Ron had been changed into a canary for the third time, grabbing the twins and sending them up to their room. Percy excused himself, muttering something about work, and soon Sirius stood up.

"Thank you for hosting the party, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," he said politely. "I believe it's time we left."

"I'm not taking the floo," Skazzy said immediately.

"I'll apparate you back," Lupin offered.

Skazzy was still debating whether it was worth getting sick to avoid the professor when he grabbed her and apparated out.

"Not okay," Skazzy said, twisting out of his grip as soon as she could and putting a chair between them.

"You said you didn't want to floo..." Lupin said, sounding confused.

"I didn't say I wanted to apparate," she said sullenly. When Lupin opened his mouth to say something, Skazzy claimed she was tired and was going to bed.

Harry came into the bedroom several minutes later and threw her two new books at her.

"Forgot these," Harry said, sitting on his bed and watching his sister.

"Not my fault," grumbled Skazzy.

"You said you'd try," Harry reminded her.

"I said I'd be polite," Skazzy corrected. "I was in the middle of deciding whether to take him up on his offer when he grabbed me. That's not polite."

"Give him a break?" Harry asked, lying down on his bed.

"Why?" she asked, opening one of the books and just staring at the words.

"He's nice, his life has been rough," Harry started.

"He's a hypocrite, he wasn't there, he's always watching me," Skazzy countered.

"The whole wizarding world watches me, and you don't see me treating it badly," Harry pointed out.

"Maybe you should. I mean, first year? Come on, this world is only slightly better than the muggle one. At least in the muggle world, they don't expect anything from you," Skazzy said. Harry sighed and turned on his side.

"Good night Skaz," he said. Skazzy waited for him to doze off before slipping out of the room and heading to the library.

She had some books to examine, and a girl to interrogate.

* * *

Downstairs, Sirius was watching his friend sit with his face downcast.

"I'm a failure as a godfather," Remus said miserably.

"I was in prison, that isn't exactly a stellar performance there," Sirius countered.

"She hates me," Remus continued, not listening.

"Harry likes you," Sirius offered. "She hates most people?"

"James and Lily..."

"Aren't here, are they? Look Remus, as much as we both don't like it, this is our life. James and Lily would be devastated about how their youngest has been behaving, but if she grew up with them, who knows what she'd be like. When can't focus on what might have been. We're stuck with this," Sirius sighed. "You made a mistake, I made giant mistakes, Skazzy and Harry make mistakes. Give it time, don't rush things."

"What if she never likes me?"

"Well, I'll share godfather responsibilities with you for Harry," Sirius said, closing his eyes. "Face it, she's her own person."

"But she trusts you," Remus said, coming back to his one sore point with his friend. Well, besides the fact that Sirius thought he was the traitor.

"After an entire year, several incidents which involved her getting into trouble, and I wasn't assigning homework," Sirius said. "Even now, I think it's more that she thinks I'm the lesser of two evils. So, not exactly a relationship built on trust. She just didn't see that you cared."

"I stayed with her in the hospital wing and at Saint Mungo's," Remus said, frowning.

"Did she see you? Going out on a limb here, but she was really unaware of what was going on around her at Christmas. Perhaps she didn't see?" Sirius asked.

"That's a valid point," Remus agreed slowly.

"Look, it's late, your tired, I'm tired. We'll deal with this tomorrow, or a different day, alright?" Sirius said, yawning. Remus nodded, and stood up to apparate home. "Crash here for tonight."

* * *

Later that night, Sirius woke up from a nightmare about Azkaban. While he was better, Azkaban was something that would never really go away. He went to check on Harry and Skazzy, make sure they were sleeping and reassure himself that everything was real. Harry was sleeping, spread out on his bed, but his sister was missing.

Sirius began to check the other rooms on the floor, as well as the downstairs, wondering if she had woken up and forgotten where she was or went to get food. When he couldn't find her downstairs, he remembered she had been interested in the library earlier. He quietly went up there to check, and she was curled up in a chair, sleeping. She looked much more vulnerable when she was sleeping, not keeping up the tough exterior that she had on during the day. He gently shook her awake.

"Hey kid, a bed might be a better place to spend the night," he said, helping her up. She nodded and wandered out of the library.

Sirius watched her go before frowning and looking at the chair she had been in. There were no books around the chair, so it didn't look like she had read anything. Maybe she felt safe with lots of books? He shrugged and went downstairs to make sure Skazzy had made it to her room. She had, curled up in a corner of her bed.

Sirius went back to sleep and forgot about it in the morning.

* * *

Skazzy woke up to sunlight in her eye. It took her a few minutes to figure out why there was sun in her eye. Her bed at the Dursley's wasn't near a window, and her dorm was underground. But, she remembered, Harry and she had been sprung from the Dursleys and were now living with Sirius. Accepting that, she pulled the pillow over her head to try and get more sleep.

Until she remembered that she didn't remember going back down to the room. She had been up in the library, reading _Curses and Counter-Curses_ as well as briefly looking at some of the other books the girl had pointed her to, like _Beginnings of Nightmares_ , an introduction into the Dark Arts. Skazzy had been waiting to see if the girl would show up again, but apparently she didn't feel the need to return since warning her. She looked around the bedroom.

Harry was already gone, and it didn't look like anyone was waiting to yell at her for reading a book she shouldn't. She cautiously got out of bed, just in case someone was lurking around waiting for a sign she was awake. Unfortunately, she stubbed her toe on her trunk and had to stifle her swears as she glared at the offending piece of furniture.

But Sirius had conjured her bed _over_ her trunk. It shouldn't have been poking out from underneath just waiting for an unsuspecting victim. Carefully pulling the trunk out, so that no one snuck up on her, Skazzy opened it slowly.

There, on top of her clothes, was _Beginnings of Nightmares_ , looking up at her innocently. Quietly shutting the trunk, Skazzy quickly went to the doorway to make sure no one was around. Then she closed the door and reopened the trunk.

Carefully turning the book over in her hands, having already learned the hard way that it needed human blood to open she wondered how it had gotten in her trunk. Who ever had found her in the library wasn't likely to want her to be reading the book, so it wouldn't make sense to put the book in her trunk. Skazzy noticed a note taped to the back of the book.

 _You know, the best way to make sure no one prevents you from doing your job is to make sure you don't fall asleep while reading books like this. At least, not without using magic so that people don't know what book you're really reading. Keep acting stupid like this, and you definitely won't be able to protect your brother. Pull it together, it's only been one day in the house. Don't go getting soft and trusting._

 _Remember:_

 _You can't trust people_

 _You can't trust animals_

 _You most certainly can't trust me to fix all your mistakes_

 _Genny_

Skazzy placed the book back in her trunk, carefully closing the lid and pushing it back under her bed while glaring at the note. The only person she could think of who would have written it was the girl with the golden hair who was complicating her life. Making good points, but complicating her life nonetheless. She scowled, and thought she heard a snort of laughter behind her, but there was no one there.

"Just wait, I'll find a way to get back at you," she muttered under her breath.

"And when you do, I'll be laughing and you'll be angry," a voice came in her ear. She turned around again, glaring at...absolutely nothing. "Careful at the World Cup."

Skazzy just stood in the room for a few minutes, her hands flexing into fists as she imagined being able to hit the annoying girl, this...Genny. She whirled around when the door opened, ready to attack Genny. Instead, she surprised her brother.

"You okay?" he asked, looking at her in concern.

"Nightmare," she said shortly. Harry nodded, and indicated the note.

"And that?"

"A prank from the twins. I guess I left my books unattended for too long yesterday," she lied, putting it on her bed.

"Breakfast is ready," Harry said, turning to leave. Skazzy watched him go.

She had told him last year no more secrets. But explaining the girl… mentioning how she had gotten in despite the safety measures taken… the fact that the note proved she wasn't hallucinating it and everything that had happened the night they discovered the truth about Sirius… the girl's warning… her suggestions…

The girl raised an excellent point, she needed to know what she was up against. She needed to be able to use everything in her power to protect her brother. It didn't matter if what saved him was dark or light, as long as it worked. Skazzy sighed, and slipped the note in one of her books.

There were some things better left unsaid.

She felt a tiny pang at going back on her words from last year.

She ignored it. She was getting good at that.

* * *

Genny appeared on the bed after the two Potters had left the room.

She was satisfied that Skazzy was angry at her. The angrier she was, the more likely she would be to try and find her own solution.

She had Skazzy hook, line and sinker. Skazzy didn't trust her, but would never consciously ignore someone who could give her information about possible trials that lay before her brother. All she had to do was point, and Skazzy would go in that direction and learn whatever she could. And the sooner she learned so called Dark Magic, the safer Harry would be.

Genny didn't even think about how this would effect Skazzy and her relationships with people.

After all, people can't be trusted.


	3. Quidditch World Cup

AN: Someone complained that Skazzy's attitude is getting old. I will admit that her characterization is unsteady. I will try to fix that, to an extent. Basically my idea of Skazzy's story is that she's spiraling down, getting worse. It's occurred to me (a few books in now :/ ) that I might have been better off starting in her fourth year, and do the others as prequels if I ever felt like it. My bad. I'm still going to do all the books when I have free time, but I will work on having Skazzy go up before she crashes. Please feel free to drop me any other complaints, things you want to point out to me. I will not bite, and I appreciate the feedback. I can only get better when people tell me things. Thanks :)

I do not own Harry Potter, the idea he might have a sibling, or time. Apologies for the lateness of the chapter, but it set up a blockade to prevent me from finishing it.

* * *

Soon after first arriving at Sirius' house, Skazzy had fallen into a routine. She would be at her most social during the day, while spending most of the night in the library reading. The strange and cryptic warning that Genny had left her with was always on her mind, and fueled her determination to learn as much as she could. Unlike the first night, she was careful to place the books she read back where they belonged, making sure no one caught her with them.

Judging by the way Sirius talked about his family and their dark tendencies, Skazzy figured he would disapprove of her newest hobby. While Skazzy was almost sure that Harry wouldn't say anything to the adults about what she was reading, he would probably not be happy. Or worse, ask why she decided that she needed to study dark magic. He probably wouldn't appreciate the fact that she needed to know what she was up against in order to properly protect him. That, and conversations like that might accidentally lead to slipping up about Genny.

Genny was a problem in and of herself. She had not been back since that day, for which Skazzy was grateful. However, Genny's knowledge of the future was concerning, and Skazzy's mind kept wandering back to the night at the Shrieking Shack and the strange thing that happened to Macnair. It didn't happen and then it did. She did not remember seeing Macnair in a bed before they went back in time, but no one else noticed it as being strange. Hermione had rationalized that by acting and doing what they did, they had upheld a time loop, that when they went back, everyone was where they needed to be to insure that everything happened as it was suppose to. If Harry hadn't gone back in time, there would be a lack of souls in bodies, but he couldn't have gone back in time to save himself if he hadn't been saved by himself.

Well, ok. Hermione had used more technical terms, and used a few movies and books as examples and Skazzy had stopped listening after the first diagram was drawn. As was pointed out by Ron, who wanted to play chess at the time, clearly they needed to do what they did because it had already happened, backed up by the fact that nothing changed. For them.

But that didn't explain Macnair. It didn't answer her questions only gave her more, and Skazzy _knew_ that Genny was holding something back. Something big. Important. And most assuredly pertaining to her brother and the dangers he might have to face. Was Genny some kind of magical being? A magical being able to jump from one time to another? Did those even exist?

Skazzy vaguely recalled that there was someone Amity was friends with who talked of strange creatures. That person might know. Or have an idea of where to find out. Skazzy growled in frustration, running her hands through her hair. Three mysteries. Three mysteries that may or may not overlap: Genny, Macnair and the danger for Harry. She wanted answers, and she wanted them last week. But despite every book in the Black library, she found no mention what so ever of Genny, or anyone changing time, or why she would remember and not everyone else with her.

She resisted the urge to throw her current book into a wall, knowing that would bring people running, and she really didn't need a lecture about books that are inappropriate for younger witches. But absolutely nothing in the books were useful. Ever. Plenty of dark rituals and curses and details about lost magical treasure, but nothing on time, beings that appear and disappear as they please and know everything, or what could possibly be after Harry.

All she had was the knowledge there would be a tournament during school, and some kind of cup that needed to be watched. It was not for the house cup, or the quidditch cup since those were not extremely dangerous, unless your brother is a mad man. Exploding gobstones? Wizard chess?

Skazzy felt as if she was falling behind. She needed to be one step ahead of those who would hurt Harry, and she couldn't do that with cryptic clues she needed to decipher. This was making her stressed since now she had time to prepare and if anything goes bad, well, it's on her head. She had the heads up warning, she should be able to stop it. Failure would be her own fault. And in this case, failure could mean death.

And Skazzy would do anything to make sure her brother lived.

Harry had decided to learn more about their parents and life in the first war and had bombarded Lupin and Sirius with questions. At one point around lunch time, she slipped down to the kitchen for some food and saw her brother laugh at something one of the adults said. A real laugh, something she had never heard before Hogwarts. He was actually enjoying life.

'One year can really make a difference,' she whispered to herself as she silently watched the scene in the kitchen. She retreated up stairs to find a place to mope. The two siblings had been similar, and now they weren't. She had seen the occasional look from her brother, a glance he tried to hide. There was a little glimmer in his eyes, while her green eye had long since faded to emptiness. She found her way to a little corner of the library, and hid behind a chair. She had a lot of thinking to do.

The glimmer in her brother's eyes, his laughter, they were just signs that their paths had diverged. If she was honest with herself, Harry would be able to create the life he wanted after everything they had been through. And she wanted that for her brother, for him to be happy and content. And she would do anything to insure that would happen.

As for herself… she was already lost with no way back. All she could do is move forward and help her brother achieve what he wanted. And then...Skazzy's thoughts trailed off. She hadn't thought about life after Hogwarts. Her goals had been to escape the Dursley's and get retribution, not to be thrown into a world worshiping her brother's forehead.

One of the two Potters should have the life that they deserve. And Skazzy knew herself well enough to admit that it could never be her. She wouldn't know what to do with a second chance at life. Instead, Skazzy would put her time and effort into making sure Harry survived and won, and had the love he deserved. And really, more people would miss him than would ever miss her.

She wasn't deaf, she heard the people in school talking. She knew people merely tolerated her, that it was her own fault she was disliked. It didn't matter what other people thought of her anyway.

Harry was the important one. He had hope in his eyes that she had lost.

Skazzy would be a memory long forgotten.

Harry would be able to move on if Skazzy was gone. Skazzy knew she would never be able to get over Harry leaving. He was her security blanket, protector and the only one who supported her. You take him away, and she had nothing. Nothing and no one. It would be like that year again.

Harry was happy.

Skazzy hated who she was.

And that was life.

A wet spot appeared on her jeans, followed by another. She wiped her eye, muttering about dust allergies and house elves who should clean more.

After all, Skazzy didn't cry. Not ever. And definitely not over the fact she was losing her brother and she didn't know how to fix it.

* * *

A few days after Skazzy had seen her brother laughing, Sirius had locked Lupin and Skazzy in a room to try and get them to work on their relationship. Harry did have to admit that it was probably the best way to make sure that Skazzy didn't disappear or avoid Lupin, even if it seemed like a horrible idea in general to lock two people in a room together when their history together was...not the best. He was distracted from the entire thing as Sirius told him about the time Lily and James ended up accidentally locked in a room during their rounds as head boy and girl.

After an awkward hour that Skazzy spent glowering at the door, Remus spoke up.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," Remus spoke tentatively. He was no good at reading the young girl, not like Harry and Amity. Phoenix just stared at him, eye empty. "Look, what did I do wrong?"

"I'm not getting out of here until we talk, am I?" came Phoenix's reply. Remus shook his head, and Phoenix muttered something under her breath that Remus decided to ignore. "I prefer to go by Skazzy."

"Why?" Remus asked, curious.

"It's...mine," Phoenix said, furrowing her brow. "It's the nickname Harry gave me, and what I've gone by for most of my life."

"Is that it? Is that the only problem you had?" Remus asked, hoping that it was even though he knew it wasn't.

"Where were you?" Phoenix shoot back. "You weren't in jail. You claim to be my parents best friend, but you didn't check on us once."

"I'm a werewolf, it was decided..." Remus began.

"By who?" Phoenix cut in, voice taking an acerbic quality.

"Dumbledore, the Ministry," Remus tried to explain, frustrated that she wasn't listening.

"And you listened," she taunted.

"Well, it was solid reasoning..." Remus tried again before Phoenix cut him off again.

"Think for yourself. I don't respect people who blindly follow those in a higher position than them," Phoenix said, eye piercing Remus before turning to the door. "I talked to him and told him answers to stuff and it was real. Can I leave now?"

Sirius opened the door, allowing Phoenix to escape. He let himself and Harry in to join Remus.

"She hates me," Remus said, slumping down. "She won't even listen to me."

Harry shrugged. "She's not good with authority. Just, stop trying. Call her Skazzy or Skaz, give her some space and let her take in this information. She's grown warmer to the Weasleys. She just, needs to know she won't be restricted. It brings back bad memories."

"Of what?" Sirius asked, eyes flickering between Remus and the door.

"I wish I knew," Harry said, a concerned look on his face as he looked out the door Phoenix had escaped from. "I don't think anyone knows."

"Does Amity know?" Sirius asked, concerned.

"No. As far as I know, Skazzy hasn't told a single person. No one," Harry admitted.

"Would you tell us if you found out?" Remus asked tentatively. He watched the different emotions pass across Harry's face.

"Probably not," he admitted, sighing. "Especially not if I thought that she would be better off in the long run with no one knowing."

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing," Harry dismissed, waving his hand. He forced a smile and turned towards the two adults. "Anymore stories about Mum and Dad?"

The two adults were successfully distracted for the time being, but when Harry left to find his sister, Sirius and Remus turned to each other.

"We need to watch her," Remus said, frowning.

"I'll watch, you just try and do what Harry suggested. Who ever said Hufflepuffs were push overs or weak was lying. I think I have a cousin I need to apologize to," Sirius said, before calling for his house elf.

"Traitorous master calls?" Kreacher said, appearing in the room and startling Remus.

"Can you watch Skazzy? The girl with red hair and a green eye. Make sure she doesn't injure herself," Sirius demanded. Kreacher snarled.

"Filthy half-blood, Kreacher doesn't care what happens to her," Kreacher muttered.

"I didn't ask if you cared, I told you to watch. And don't let her know you are watching her unless you have to," Sirius added, dismissing Kreacher. Remus watched the interaction between Sirius and house elf with a raised brow.

"You know, you should probably treat him better," Remus said, watching as Kreacher popped away still muttering under his breath.

"He's evil, just like my mother," Sirius complained, sitting down in a chair. Remus followed suit, and the two began to reminisce about the 'good old days'.

* * *

Skazzy was beginning to get freaked out. She felt as if someone was watching her every move, that even when there was nobody around her in the library at night, and when her brother was sleeping as was Sirius, there were eyes following her. Several times she had spun around, certain that there was someone behind her only to find no one there.

She wasn't sure if it was Genny, although she was reasonably sure it wasn't Harry or Sirius. She figured if it was one of them, they would have tried to talk to her about everything. Or yelled at her for the books she was reading. But nothing. No comment, no strange glance. Which left Genny.

If it was Genny, Skazzy wished she'd show herself so she could face her. If Genny was going to be around, Skazzy'd prefer to be able to interrogate her or ask questions instead of just being at the strange girl's mercy. There was a better chance for the girl to let something slip if she was talking, and hardly a chance of that happening at all if she never spoke.

On the day of the world cup, Sirius woke everyone up early. He was bouncing off the walls with excitement that Harry shared once he was awake. Skazzy just watched as the two went back and forth talking about quidditch and who would be most likely to win. She let the two have their fun, running through the latest wand movements for a spell that she had started reading about last night in her mind.

Hogwarts couldn't come soon enough so she could actually practice her spells. She retreated upstairs after breakfast to read from one of the books she had gotten for her birthday before Harry was dragging her back down to get ready to leave. Lupin was there as well, having been invited by Sirius. Skazzy made sure she was as far away from him as she could be. When Sirius announced that they'd be apparating to the cup, Harry went to Lupin to prevent his sister from causing a fuss.

The area where the cup was being held was protected from muggles with muggle repelling spells. And it was a good thing wizards had those, because it seemed like wizard's attempts to act like muggles were more liable to get them in trouble than their normal behavior. Skazzy watched as a group walked past, with one wizard wearing a nightgown, and another wearing only a rain jacket and shower hat.

"Come on, let's find Ron and Hermione," Harry said, waving to the adults and dragging his sister along with him.

"Do we have any idea where they are?" Skazzy asked, looking around. It seemed far more crowded than Diagon Alley, and even more… magical. There were tents that could only be standing due to magic, as well as children on toy brooms flying underfoot. Apparently everyone was selling paraphernalia for the two teams so everyone could show their support. Giant shamrocks that were still growing, wizarding pictures of all the different members of the two teams, as well as shirts. You couldn't go five feet without someone using magic for something.

"No," Harry admitted, looking around in excitement. "But we'll have to run into them eventually, right?"

"Doubtful," Skazzy said, folding her arms. She thought she caught a glimpse of golden hair and sparkly skin, but a second glance proved it was just a blonde girl wearing glitter.

"Oh, red hair!" Harry said, pointing and dragging Skazzy with him as he followed the group.

"Do we know them?" Skazzy asked, digging her feet in so that Harry would slow down and start to think.

"Yeah, I see Percy," Harry said cheerfully, and Skazzy reluctantly followed her brother. The former head boy was walking with two other red heads with a determined look on his face. One of them, a man with long hair, what looked liked a leather jacket and a fang for an earring, was listening to Percy politely. The other one, who looked as if he had be burned recently, was just looking around. "Those two must be Charlie and Bill. Hi Percy!"

"Or they could be two people Percy works with…" Skazzy said, scowling as she followed her brother.

"Harry, Skazzy," Percy said, trying to preserve some dignity as the long haired man ruffled his hair.

"You must be the infamous Potters. Ron hasn't shut up about you two, and Fred and George have been telling horror stories about you," The long haired man said, pointing to Skazzy.

"Horror stories, me? I think they might be confused," Skazzy said with a straight face. Percy nodded.

"She's a Hufflepuff," Percy said, before walking faster to greet someone who looked like they worked in the Ministry.

"He keeps saying that. It's almost as if he hasn't met you," Harry said, watching Percy go.

"Hufflepuff? I think someone mentioned that. I had a good friend who was a Hufflepuff. She got into a lot of trouble, but pretty loyal," the other man said, holding out a hand. "Charlie."

"Bill," the long haired man said.

"Harry," Harry said, shaking their hands. Skazzy simply waved. "She's Skazzy. Do you know where the rest of your family is?"

"Yeah, come on. I want to ask you two a couple questions. Some of the stories our brothers' tell are a little..." Bill started, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"Strange," Charlie finished, smiling.

"About what?" Harry asked.

"Well, one was going to be about the scar, but I think that's pretty obvious. There was really a basilisk at Hogwarts?" Charlie asked, looking at Skazzy's scar.

"Yeah, it was about sixty feet long," Harry said, nodding. Skazzy shrugged.

"I'm not insane enough to blind myself," Skazzy said.

"Seeker since first year?" Bill asked. Harry nodded. "And did you really attack a professor?"

"If you are referring to Lockhart, yes. Anyone else, and I have no idea what you're talking about," Skazzy said, still refusing to accept any version of what happened in the Shrieking Shack as truth. Harry lightly punched her in the arm.

"Skaz," he said, warningly, before they were interrupted by a brown haired girl.

"Harry!" Hermione's voice was muffled as she hugged him.

"Hey Hermione, Ron," Harry said, nodding to Ron. "Miss me?"

"A little. How come you two got here so late?" Ron asked, watching Hermione as she attacked Skazzy after letting Harry go.

"Late? What do you mean?" Harry asked, ignoring his sister's attempts to get his attention for help with Hermione. Fred and George popped out of a tent and answered.

"We've been out here since the sun rose. Those two have been through the camp twice looking for you," the two said in unison.

"We just woke up. The match isn't going to start soon, right?" Harry said, frowning a little.

"Just woke up? Why couldn't we get here when they did," one of the twins complained to their dad.

"There were too many of us who couldn't apparate so we had to schedule a portkey," Mr. Weasley said, struggling to light a fire with matches. "Oops."

"Portkey?" Harry asked, taking the matches from Mr. Weasley and lighting the fire himself.

"It basically transports you from one point to a set destination," Hermione answered.

"Nixie!" came an excited voice from behind, and everyone turned to see Ginny and Amity carrying a bucket of water each. Amity carefully set her bucket down before hugging Skazzy.

"I didn't know you were coming," Skazzy said, nodding to Ginny who nodded back.

"Mr. Weasley had an extra ticket, so Ginny invited me. Who are you rooting for?" Amity asked her friend.

"The side that wins?" Skazzy said, receiving a slap on the head for that. "Ouch."

"Ireland, she's rooting for Ireland," Harry said, shaking his head at his sister.

"Ok, Ireland. I'm rooting for Ireland," Skazzy said, rubbing her head amidst laughs from the Weasleys, Amity, and Hermione.

"Where are you two sitting?" Ron asked.

"Top box, Sirius says it has the best view," Harry answered.

"Us too. Dad managed to get the tickets from Ludo Bagman," Ron said, smiling.

"Ludo whoman?" Skazzy asked.

"Him," Ginny said, pointing to a man who was wearing black and yellow robes that were clearly meant for someone who was several stones lighter. He was going bald, and didn't seem to be concerned about anything that was going on around him.

"Hello Ludo," Mr. Weasley said, waving to the man. The man waved back and made a beeline for the campsite.

"Hello there," Bagman cried out, puffing as he got closer. "Well Arthur, what a day, eh? What a day! We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. Tonight will be cloudless... everything has gone swimmingly... why there's been almost nothing for me to do!"

He was apparently unconcerned about the giant purple magical fire that had appeared behind him. Several other Ministry workers on the other hand were busy running towards it, and glaring at the man who had just sat down and helped himself to some of the food Mr. Weasley had made. Skazzy glanced at him, before deciding that he was a useless person. Amity, sitting next to her, agreed.

"Mum says he's the most useless person to ever head the Department of Games and Sports. Apparently, one of the people who works for him disappeared during vacation a month ago, and he still won't declare her missing. Convinced she'll just appear," Amity whispered to Ginny and Skazzy, frowning. Ginny shrugged.

"He did get us our tickets," Ginny said, watching as her brother Percy eagerly shook the man's hand.

"And this is Amity Fear, one of Ginny and Ron's friends, Hermione Granger, another friend, and Harry and Skazzy Potter," Mr. Weasley was saying, pointing to everyone in turn. Skazzy scowled as Bagman began to drool over her brother, before turning and staring at her.

"What…?" He asked, pointing to her scar. Skazzy was stopped from yelling at him when her brother covered her mouth.

"Snake bite," Harry said, glaring at his sister. Everyone watched as the two of them had a silent conversation before Skazzy looked away, scowling but silent.

"Snake bite?" Bagman asked, before dismissing the information as unimportant and turning to Mr. Weasley. "Fancy a bet? I've already got Roddy Pontner betting me Bulgaria will score first, I even offered him nice odds, considering Ireland's front three are the strongest I've seen in years, and little Agatha Timms has put up half shares in her eel farm on a week- long match."

"I suppose so," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's see . . . a galleon on Ireland to win?"

"A galleon?" Ludo Bagman looked slightly disappointed, but recovered himself. "Very well, very well . . . any other takers?"

"They're a bit young to be gambling," said Mr. Weasley. "Molly wouldn't like..."

"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," said Fred as he and George quickly pooled all their money, "that Ireland wins — but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh and we'll throw in a fake wand."

"You don't want to go showing Mr. Bagman rubbish like that..." Percy hissed, but Bagman didn't seem to think the wand was rubbish at all; on the contrary, his boyish face shone with excitement as he took it from Fred, and when the wand gave a loud squawk and turned into a rubber chicken, Bagman roared with laughter.

"Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years! I'd pay five Galleons for that!"

Percy froze in an attitude of stunned disapproval.

"Boys," said Mr. Weasley under his breath, "I don't want you betting. . . . That's all your savings. . . . Your mother..."

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Ludo Bagman, rattling his pockets excitedly. "They're old enough to know what they want! You reckon Ireland will win but Krum'll get the Snitch? Not a chance, boys, not a chance. . . . I'll give you excellent odds on that one. . . . We'll add five galleons for the funny wand, then, shall we. . . "

Mr. Weasley looked on helplessly as Ludo Bagman whipped out a notebook and quill and began jotting down the twins' names.

"Cheers," said George, taking the slip of parchment Bagman handed him and tucking it away carefully. Bagman turned most cheerfully back to Mr. Weasley.

"Couldn't do me a brew, I suppose? I'm keeping an eye out for Barty Crouch. My Bulgarian opposite number's making difficulties, and I can't understand a word he's saying. Barty'll be able to sort it out. He speaks about a hundred and fifty languages."

"Mr. Crouch?" said Percy, suddenly abandoning his look of poker-stiff disapproval and positively writhing with excitement. "He speaks over two hundred! Mermish and Gobbledegook and Troll . . ."

"Anyone can speak Troll," said Fred dismissively. "All you have to do is point and grunt."

Percy threw Fred an extremely nasty look and stoked the fire vigorously to bring the kettle back to the boil.

"Any news of Bertha Jorkins yet, Ludo?" Mr. Weasley asked as Bagman waited on the kettle. Skazzy started a bit at the name, and tried to remember where she had heard it mentioned before.

"Not a dicky bird," said Bagman comfortably. "But she'll turn up. Poor old Bertha . . . memory like a leaky cauldron and no sense of direction. Lost, you take my word for it. She'll wander back into the office sometime in October, thinking it's still July."

"You don't think it might be time to send someone to look for her?" Mr. Weasley suggested tentatively as Percy handed Bagman his tea.

"Barty Crouch keeps saying that," said Bagman, his round eyes widening innocently, "but we really can't spare anyone at the moment. Oh, talk of the devil! Barty!"

A wizard had just apparated at their fireside, frowning. Barty Crouch was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The parting in his short gray hair was almost unnaturally straight, and his narrow toothbrush mustache looked as though he trimmed it using a slide rule. His shoes were very highly polished. It was apparent why Percy idolized him. Percy was a great believer in rigidly following rules, and Mr. Crouch had complied with the rule about Muggle dressing so thoroughly that he could have passed for a bank manager.

"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty," said Ludo brightly, patting the ground beside him.

"No thank you, Ludo," said Crouch, and there was a bite of impatience in his voice. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to the Top Box."

"Oh is _that_ what they're after?" said Bagman. "I thought the chap was asking to borrow a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent."

"Mr. Crouch!" said Percy breathlessly, sunk into a kind of half-bow that made him look like a hunchback. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Is your brother sure that he's not the one with problems," Skazzy asked Ginny, watching as Percy made a fool of himself in her opinion. Ginny shrugged, struggling to hide a laugh.

"Oh," said Mr. Crouch, looking over at Percy in mild surprise. "Yes — thank you, Weatherby"

Fred and George choked into their own cups. Percy, very pink around the ears, busied himself with the kettle. Ron and Harry tried to hide their sniggers while Hermione looked on in disapproval. Ginny was hiding behind Amity so that her brother couldn't see her laughing, while Amity kept a straight face. Skazzy just raised an eyebrow.

"Oh and I've been wanting a word with you too, Arthur," said Mr. Crouch, his sharp eyes falling upon Mr. Weasley. "Ali Bashir's on the warpath. He wants a word with you about your embargo on flying carpets."

Mr. Weasley heaved a deep sigh.

"I sent him an owl about that just last week. If I've told him once I've told him a hundred times: Carpets are defined as a Muggle Artifact by the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, but will he listen?"

"I doubt it," said Mr. Crouch, accepting a cup from Percy. "He's desperate to export here."

"Well, they'll never replace brooms in Britain, will they?" said Bagman.

"Ali thinks there's a niche in the market for a family vehicle," said Mr. Crouch. "I remember my grandfather had an Axminster that could seat twelve — but that was before carpets were banned, of course."

He spoke as though he wanted to leave nobody in any doubt that all his ancestors had abided strictly by the law.

"So, been keeping busy, Barty?" said Bagman breezily.

"Fairly," said Mr. Crouch dryly. "Organizing Portkeys across five continents is no mean feat, Ludo."

"I expect you'll both be glad when this is over?" said Mr. Weasley.

Ludo Bagman looked shocked.  
"Glad! Don't know when I've had more fun. . . Still, it's not as though we haven't got anything to look forward to, eh, Barty? Eh? Plenty left to organize, eh?"

Mr. Crouch raised his eyebrows at Bagman.

"We agreed not to make the announcement until all the details..."

"Oh details!" said Bagman, waving the word away like a cloud of midges. "They've signed, haven't they? They've agreed, haven't they? I bet you anything these kids'll know soon enough anyway. I mean, it's happening at Hogwarts..."

Skazzy frowned, looking from one man to the other. What was happening at Hogwarts?

"Ludo, we need to meet the Bulgarians, you know," said Mr. Crouch sharply, cutting Bagman's remarks short. "Thank you for the tea, Weatherby."

He pushed his undrunk tea back at Percy and waited for Bagman to rise; Bagman struggled to his feet, swigging down the last of his tea, the gold in his pockets chinking merrily.

"See you all later!" he said. "I'm commentating!" He waved, Barty Crouch nodded curtly, and both of them disapparated.

"What's happening at Hogwarts, Dad?" asked Fred and George at once. "What were they talking about?"

"You'll find out soon enough," said Mr. Weasley, smiling.

"It's classified information, until such time as the Ministry decides to release it," said Percy stiffly. "Mr. Crouch was quite right not to disclose it."

"Oh shut up, Weatherby," said Fred.

"Hang on, don't I deserve to know if something dangerous is happening at Hogwarts? Shouldn't that be something we get informed about?" Skazzy asked, frowning. Everyone stared at her.

"Dangerous? Now, it shouldn't be dangerous for you," Mr. Weasley said, frowning in thought. "It's perfectly safe, one of the requirements for making it happen..."

"Mr. Crouch would never let something dangerous happen," Percy said, looking down his nose at Skazzy. Skazzy shook her head, glaring at the two older men. Harry distracted the Weasleys with questions about previous world cups and how long they had lasted. Pretty soon, Sirius and Lupin had found the Weasleys and had started conversations, Lupin listening to Percy rave about his boss while Sirius asked Bill questions about curse-breaking.

Skazzy stayed quiet, allowing everyone to talk around her. She was too busy trying to figure out what might be happening at Hogwarts, and the vague assurances of Percy and Mr. Weasley were not assuaging her concerns. What else, besides the world cup which was probably not going to be repeated at Hogwarts, would involve the Ministry, or even the heads of Games and Sports _and_ International Relationships. If Hermione wasn't saying anything, then there was little chance Skazzy would be able to discover it through books.

A sense of excitement rose like a palpable cloud over the campsite as the afternoon wore on. By dusk, the still summer air itself seemed to be quivering with anticipation, and as darkness spread like a curtain over the thousands of waiting wizards, the last vestiges of pretense disappeared: the Ministry seemed to have bowed to the inevitable and stopped fighting the signs of blatant magic now breaking out everywhere.

Salesmen were apparating every few feet, carrying trays and pushing carts full of extraordinary merchandise. There were luminous rosettes in green for Ireland and red for Bulgaria which were squealing the names of the players, pointed green hats bedecked with dancing shamrocks, Bulgarian scarves adorned with lions that really roared, flags from both countries that played their national anthems as they were waved; there were tiny models of Firebolts that really flew, and collectible figures of famous players, which strolled across the palm of your hand, preening themselves.

"Been saving my pocket money all summer for this," Ron told Harry as he dragged Harry and Hermione through the salesmen, buying souvenirs, Skazzy following. Though Ron purchased a dancing shamrock hat and a large green rosette, he also bought a small figure of Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker. The miniature Krum walked backward and forward over Ron's hand, scowling up at the green rosette above him.

"Wow, look at these!" said Harry, hurrying over to a cart piled high with what looked like brass binoculars, except that they were covered with all sorts of weird knobs and dials.

"Omnioculars," said the saleswizard eagerly. "You can replay action . . . slow everything down . . . and they flash up a play-by-play breakdown if you need it. Bargain, ten Galleons each."

"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, gesturing at his dancing shamrock hat and gazing longingly at the Omnioculars.

"Four pairs," said Harry firmly to the wizard.  
"No, don't bother," said Ron, going red. He was always touchy about the fact that Harry and Skazzy, who had inherited a small fortune from their parents, had much more money than he did.

"Happy birthday," Harry told him, thrusting Omnioculars into his and Hermione's hands, tossing the last pair to his sister. "Should make up for the last three from both of us. And the next few as well."

"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.

"Oooh, thanks, Harry, Skazzy," said Hermione. "And I'll get us some programs, look..."

Their money bags considerably lighter, they went back to the tents. Bill and Charlie, were all sporting green rosettes too, and Mr. Weasley was carrying an Irish flag. Fred and George had no souvenirs as they had given Bagman all their gold. Amity and Ginny both had Omnioculars as well, and Lupin looked resigned to the fact that he had a hat, Omnioculars, and a green rosette just like Sirius.

And then a deep, booming gong sounded somewhere beyond the woods, and at once, green and red lanterns blazed into life in the trees, lighting a path to the field.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking as excited as any of them. "Come on, let's go!"

* * *

"Well, should we watch? Or leave it up to her?" Genny asked the person behind her as she watched the group of red heads walk towards the quidditch pitch.

"I don't see why we can't watch, as long as we don't interfere with her."

"Why exactly do we believe that we can't interfere in everything?" Genny asked, turning to look at the girl behind her. The other girl sighed.

"We learn it in fifth year Arithmancy. No one else understands it, since Time isn't the same for them as it is for us. But Time is equations, and everything is set, except sometimes it isn't. But some events are more set than others, and drastic changes to those events will cause the destruction of Time. Little things are ok. It's like time turners. We can do what we know, but we can't change what happened."

"I'll take your word that we will learn it and understand, because that makes no sense. We changed Time."

"Look at it this way. At least this way we know what to expect."

Genny hesitated, looking around. "So, there's no going back."

"I'm pretty sure that was never an option anyway," the girl answered, twirling her wand.

"No, but nobody's told her that yet," Genny said, a feral look on her face. "I can't wait for the fun to begin."


	4. Darkness

Disclaimer: Do not own.

*Beware for possibly disturbing topics: there is a battle scene. I don't believe it is graphic, but I figured better safe than triggered.

* * *

The entire game went by in a blur for Skazzy. Since Harry wasn't participating and everyone was flying fast, she saw no reason to try and keep up with it. She had kept a firm grip on her brother when it seemed as if he was going to jump out of the box when the Bulgarian mascots came out, although he seemed able to shake it off easily after the first time.

This just meant that when the game ended she was one of the few who wasn't screaming, whether from joy or anger. In fact, the only reason she realized the game was over was when her brother jostled her from her thoughts. She looked up, having spent the past few hours alternating between trying to put the clues she had gathered today together with what Genny had told her, and going over spells in her head. Her hand itched, wanted to reach for her wand and try the curses and hexes she had learned, but now wasn't the right time.

"Game's over, Skaz," Harry said, when Skazzy looked at him. She nodded and stood up. Harry wanted to spend a little more time with the Weasley's before bed so he and Sirius went back to the Weasley tent. Skazzy begged off, having used up her ability to be social. Harry and Amity looked concerned when she made no comment about Lupin volunteering to go back with her to their tent, but she just told them she was tired.

Which she was. She hadn't been sleeping. Sleep was something she struggled with, and she could take nothing for it anymore for fear of killing herself. Madam Pomfrey had said that the effects of potion abuse, and of that potion specifically, could be long term and affect her sleep patterns. She had become a light sleeper, prone to waking up often. So it was no surprise to her that she was hardly able to sleep with all the celebrating going on.

What was surprising was the frightened screams. In her half awake state, Skazzy jumped up, scrambling for her wand processing nothing but danger. The next thing she checked was for her brother, only to remember that he was at the Weasley's. With screams and laughter echoing in her ears and a burning need to make sure her brother was fine, she ran out of the tent towards where her brother was supposed to be. She didn't hear the voice of Lupin yelling for her to come back, to run _away_ from the danger.

Finding the Weasley's tent in the dark was harder than she thought, especially with people panicking. She got turned around and stopped, trying to orient herself and not be carried away by the crowd of people. She managed to break off into an empty spot, and saw what had scared everyone.

A group of people were being floated above the ground, below them a group dressed in black with masks on. The people in black were wearing silver masks with slitted eye holes, and were laughing as they tortured the people in the air. No one was stopping them, just running in abject terror. Skazzy just stared for a few minutes before whispered words reached her ears from people running nearby.

"Death Eaters."

Skazzy's blood went cold. The danger was supposed to be at Hogwarts. Harry hadn't been forcibly entered here, he hadn't participated and this wasn't Hogwarts. She needed to find Harry. She _had_ to find Harry. Nothing else mattered. Right now, she just had to make sure he was _alive_ for there to be problems at Hogwarts. If she were someone else, she might take the knowledge that Harry would be forcibly entered into something at school as a promise that he would survive tonight, but she wasn't. She remembered two times, where Macnair became soulless, and when he did not. And if those could both have existed, it was possible for Harry to die and to live. She could not let that happen. Not if she had breath in her body.

* * *

Remus' first thought was that Phoenix was very fast for a thirteen year old, to have darted out of the tent without much of a warning. His next was worry because _she was running into the crowd._ He wasn't sure if she had heard him yelling for her to stop and come back, or if she had ignored him. He also wasn't sure he wanted to know.

He had waited a second too long to start chasing after her, and she disappeared into the panicking crowd. _At least_ , he thought ruefully, _she's predictable enough to know where she's heading._ Remus fought through the crowd towards where Sirius and Harry should be, looking out for a little red haired girl. When he caught a glimpse of what was causing the ruckus, he started to be even more forceful.

Death Eaters wouldn't hesitate to harm a child. Especially not if they were drunk, like they probably were. Even more so if they realized who the child was. He _needed_ to find Phoenix, to protect her like he should have been years ago. It was just too crowded, and he was too big to find cracks to get through the throngs of people. He found himself carried away by the crowd, struggling to take back the ground he lost.

He hoped Phoenix found her brother and Sirius.

She had too.

* * *

Wizards in red were beginning to show up and fight back against the Death Eaters, but the mob of Death Eaters had grown, and they were destroying anything in their path. When the wizards began firing at the group, the group began to disperse, but only to fight back. Skazzy barely had time to stumble back when a spell came her way, the streak of light briefly exposing her. It was enough. Three Death Eaters broke off from the attack on the wizards and started to advance on her. She didn't stop to think, she didn't hesitate at all, and she cast one of the curses from _The Beginnings of Nightmares._

The person she hit, a man by the sound of his screams, stopped moving forward and fell to the ground, writhing in pain. She didn't have time to acknowledge what she had done before she needed to attack the other two. She fired the curse off again, but a shield was erected and it bounced off harmlessly. She was then forced to dodge two spells, misaimed although not too far off. When she turned around to face her opponents, she realized they were forcing her back towards the main group.

She couldn't die, not yet. Not when she hadn't figured out what would threaten Harry this year. She couldn't die until Harry was safe. He didn't even know about the danger yet. She let her panic and instincts take over, running through the spells she had read and never tried. Most of her spells missed, the two Death Eaters being much better duelists than an almost third year no matter how drunk they were. She was barely managing to dodge their spells, and found herself losing ground.

She knew she couldn't fight them all. Not yet, at least. She needed to survive and train. Train hard. She needed to get better. If she could barely fight them while they weren't at the top of their game, her brother had no chance at all of surviving them when they were better.

She had to do something.

Anything else was failure.

* * *

"Shouldn't we help now?" Genny asked, had moving towards her wand. "I'm pretty sure this isn't suppose to happen."

"It is, just wait," the other girl said, looking relaxed although she was just as tense as Genny.

"I don't remember this," Genny said tightly.

"Relax, you will. Wait for it," the other girl replied.

"I don't understand how you're so calm," Genny was clenching her fist.

"You know why, or you will. There are other things to worry about," the girl said, her visible eye clouded as she looked into the sky. "So many other things."

"There won't be if she doesn't live."

"She needs to take this step. On her own."

"She really needs to take it soon."

* * *

"What is going on?" the older unspeakable asked, watching as the quill hovered, as the writing flashed.

"Isn't that my line?" the younger one asked, looking from the book to the other unspeakable.

"Not right now."

The quill and the book were misbehaving, writing appearing and disappearing before either of the unspeakables could read it. The minute it had started happening, the two unspeakables had gone to the journals to try and see if it had happened to anyone else. Since there was no phasing in and out of the book, just writing, they knew it didn't mean they were almost out of time.

"Is Time in flux?" the younger one ventured, timidly. "Maybe the Timeless being is causing this?"

"But wouldn't the Timeless being appear in the book like before?" the older one was frustrated, angry.

"Why couldn't this happen to other people?" the younger one quietly moaned.

* * *

Time watched as she began to flicker. That was new. It was unpleasant. Not all of her would flicker out at the same time, and it would always flicker back in. Unraveling was normal. Disappearing was not. This made her worried. This was a flexible point in time. It _could_ change with very little effect on her. This shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't be possible. Something was wrong.

Something might possibly go horribly wrong, and Time had no idea what it could be.

* * *

Fate was ecstatic. She might be closer to winning than she thought. All that needed to happen was for this fluid event to change, and wreck havoc on all fixed points in this timeline. If that happened, then her sister would disappear and she would win.

She waited, eyes glistening as she saw her victory approaching.

* * *

Sirius had gone with the kids to make sure they were protected while the elder Weasley's helped protect people against the crowd. He hoped that Remus and Skazzy had managed to get to safety. He was looking around the woods for a good place to stop and rest when he noticed Remus in a crowd. He waved him over, feeling relief wash through him as Remus acknowledged him and came over.

"Thank Merlin you're okay," Sirius breathed. The smile on his face fell off when Remus looked around desperately, and a certain red head did not attach herself to her brother. "Where's Skazzy?"

"I was hoping she had managed to reach you. She ran out of the tent and towards the Weasley's the minute she heard the crowd. I'm not sure if she heard me yelling. And she's so small she can dart between people and she's hard to see in the crowd and everyone was panicking..." Remus said, going pale.

"Where's my sister?" Harry demanded, looking between the two adults. He started to get really worried when they didn't answer. "Where's my sister?"

"I don't know, she ran off to find you, I couldn't see her," Remus said, collapsing to the ground and hiding his head in his hands. "I'm a horrible godfather, I shouldn't be around children, I should never have been named godfather."

Fred and George were holding Harry back as he struggled to get out of the safe place and in the general direction his sister had gone.

"Let me go, I need to find her," Harry said, desperation in his eyes. That desperation only increased when booming voices could be heard telling people to evacuate the area. "Skazzy!"

"You'll only get hurt if you go after her," Hermione said, trying to be rational. "I'm sure she'll be..."

Hermione couldn't finish that sentence. Everyone knew that Skazzy didn't think straight when she was worried for her brother. For many, this was the first time they were seeing how Harry could be when the roles were reversed. Skazzy wouldn't go somewhere safe unless she was sure her brother was fine. Unless she was physically taken somewhere.

"I have to find her," Harry said, struggling so much that Ron had to join the twins in restraining him. Sirius was busy trying to comfort Remus, knowing that going after Skazzy at the moment would lead no where. Amity was clutching Ginny and crying.

"Maybe Dad'll find her," Ron offered, his words hollow. There were too many people. The possibility was low. There was silence for a while, just the sounds of Harry struggling and Remus shuddering. Soon Sirius looked up, grave.

"Our first concern has to be making sure all of you are safe. Then we can come back and find Skazzy," he said. Everyone but Harry nodded.

"We can't leave her! She's just a third year!"

"Mate, she survived a basilisk, you survived You-Know-Who. She's not looking to start a fight with any of the Death Eaters," Ron tried. Harry didn't give up, but Remus and Sirius took him from the twins and started moving away, ignoring his shouts.

The group continued on towards the edges of the apparation wards, and as soon as they reached them Sirius apparated Harry and Ron to the Burrow. Molly looked slightly relieved, until she saw their faces. As soon as Sirius was sure that Harry had let go, he disapparated. Harry just fell to the ground. Ron knelt next to him, silently offering support and comfort.

When Sirius reappeared, Remus took a deep breath and apparated Ginny and Amity to the Burrow. The other three students were quiet, not knowing how to deal with the situation. When Remus returned, he and Sirius apparated the rest of the group away to the Burrow. They were about to leave when the rest of the Weasley's appeared, faces grim.

"There were at least seven deaths, including the muggles originally being baited. The riot is out of control, spells are flying everywhere," Mr. Weasley said grimly. He did a quick sweep to check and make sure everyone was there, and he did a double take when the wrong red head was at Harry's side. He looked up to Remus and Sirius, a question in his eyes.

"She managed to get separated from me in the confusion," Remus said hoarsely. Sirius' tight grip on his arm was the only thing keeping him standing. Mr. Weasley closed his eyes as Bill and Charlie hissed through their teeth.

"She's clearly not a Death Eater, or old enough to be using magic. The Ministry will find her."

Percy didn't sound as confident in the Ministry as he usually did.

* * *

Run. She needed to run. Run somewhere. No, she needed to get rid of the two people chasing her. She needed to be better. She wasn't good enough. Think, focus. She needed to fight. She cast another spell, going wide as she just aimed behind her not checking. Another two peeled off the group as she peaked back, causing her to curse. She wasn't watching where she was going and ran into someone. She tumbled down, glancing at the ground and noticing her brother's wand. Her heart jumped to her throat. Did she hit her brother?

But when she looked around, she saw no one. Harry hadn't brought his invisibility cloak, and Sirius wouldn't let him do anything stupid like look for her. So maybe he dropped it. He had to have dropped it. That had to be the answer. Spell fire hit the ground an inch from her head and she struggled to her feet and resumed running. She was in the forest now, and dodged spells using trees and her experience from Potter Hunting her cousin had done. It wasn't enough to lose them.

She stumbled over a tree root and twisted her ankle. Luckily her fall caused her to dodge another spell, a sickly green one. She couldn't get her foot free, and the first two wizards were coming up. She turned as much as she could, and fired a spell from one of the even darker books, one she had only just read the name of and looked at the movements and hadn't had time to read about. Her spell hit, as the wizard wasn't expecting the attack from down low. He fell apart, literally dismembered in front of her. The other wizard gaped, staring at the remains. Reflexively, she cast a spell on him, the same one since it was on her lips already. By the time she realized what she had done, he too had fallen apart.

She felt sick. She felt like she was going to throw up. But the crashing in the woods was getting closer and she was a sitting duck. She wrenched her ankle out of the root it was trapped in, and winced in pain. It was definitely dislocated, at the very least. But she was running on adrenaline and had no time for focusing on pain. She stumbled more, and hid behind a trees a bit more to catch her breath.

She heard voices, the other wizards had found the first two, and it sounded like they were sobering up.

"Are we sure that was a Potter brat?"

"Had the scar. Pretty distinctive. Do you know anyone else with a scar like that?"

"No, but, Merlin. She's a third year. I didn't learn this kind of magic until I was a fifth."

"I didn't think Dumbledore would allow them to learn this magic."

"Aren't they living with Black? His family would know this stuff."

"Yeah, but he wouldn't teach it to the Potters, he wouldn't even use it himself."

"She got lucky then. Came across the spell in the library and learned it then. Probably best if we take her out, then if He _is_ coming back..."

"We'll move up. Who knows, maybe she can give up her brother as well."

Skazzy saw red. No one was going to hurt her brother. Especially not if they were going to try and use her to do it. She turned, trying to see in the darkness where the two were. The minute she cast her first spell, her position would be given up. She needed to make it count. She shot the first curse she had learned, not wanting to dismember more people. Her aim was off, too wide. However, she got a good glance at where the two were standing.

She dove, not in time enough to completely dodge one of the spells, and she felt white hot pain shoot up her right arm. She managed to keep her grip on her brother's wand, and shot off the curse again. Her aim was better, and she managed to clip one of the wizards. She was forced to dodge another spell, and this time her next one made contact. She heard a pop, and when she looked around, the slightly injured wizard was gone.

Skazzy took a moment to breath. She had gotten lucky. Extremely lucky. And everything hurt. Her arm, her ankle. She also didn't want to be around the bodies if anyone came around. But the fighting sounded faint, as if it was far away or dying down, so she wasn't sure anyone would come. She stumbled away from the site, leaning against trees and breathing heavily. When she couldn't stand the pain anymore she collapsed.

When she closed her eye, all she could see was the men being dismembered. _What had she done?_

"What needed to be done," the voice came, soft and cold. Skazzy couldn't focus when she opened her eye, seeing only gold floating in front of her.

"I..." Skazzy threw up, the images still stuck in her mind.

"If you cannot stomach it, you will not be able to save your brother," the voice said. It was steel, unforgiving, accusing her of not loving her brother enough.

"For...Harry," Skazzy said, closing her eye again. She could do this for Harry. She would do this for Harry. Harry would never be able to stomach this, so she would do it for him.

"For Harry," the voice agreed.

Skazzy passed out.

* * *

Cassius Avery felt his wards surround him and he breathed easily. He banished his robes and took stock of his injury. Apparently the brat had barely hit him with a blood boiling curse. He performed the counter spell, glad it had mostly missed him. That brat was dangerous, if she was like that untrained. And the hatred she could put in her spells...

She wasn't experienced enough with magic for her spells to be powerful without her focusing, so it was all her emotions. If she was able to cause pain and suffering and death like that, she had a plethora of dark emotions. Perhaps she would become dark. Perhaps she and her brother were hiding their true alignment. Perhaps they needed a proper wizard to help introduce them to the world...

Plans began to form inside of his mind, plans of replacing the old Dark Lord with a Dark Lord and Dark Lady, or just Dark Lady. Of pulling strings and being the power behind the Potter siblings like he never was with the Dark Lord. He could become powerful, and they would look on him with gratefulness for showing them just how powerful they could be.

His planning was interrupted by a cough. His eyes opened, and he grabbed his wand to face his intruder and _how did they breach the wards?_

"Yeah, sorry. But your plans? Not going to happen. No hard feelings."

Cassius Avery felt a thrill of fear rush through him at the sight before him. Before he could speak a word, the intruder spoke his death.

"Avada Kedavra."


End file.
